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Wildlife vulnerability and risk maps for combined pollutants
Joost Lahr1, Bernd Münier, Hendrika J De Lange
1Alterra, Wageningen UR, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands. joost.lahr@wur.nl
The Science of the Total Environment
|January 12, 2010
Summary
This study maps wildlife vulnerability to soil pollutants in Denmark, identifying high-risk areas. It demonstrates combining vulnerability and concentration data for effective ecological risk assessment and communication.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Ecotoxicology
- Risk Assessment
Background:
- Ecological risk maps are crucial for analyzing pollutant impacts and stakeholder communication.
- Existing maps often focus on single pollutants, limiting comprehensive assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and demonstrate a method for creating ecological risk maps for multiple soil pollutants in Denmark.
- To identify high-risk 'hot spots' for wildlife exposed to metals and an insecticide.
Main Methods:
- Utilized trait-based wildlife vulnerability analysis results.
- Integrated vulnerability maps with soil concentration data (pollutant level / Maximum Permissible Concentration).
- Modeled cumulative risk by combining individual pollutant maps using various toxicity mechanisms (no addition, concentration addition, antagonism, synergism).
Main Results:
- Generated relative risk maps identifying specific high-risk areas for wildlife in Denmark.
- Successfully demonstrated the creation of cumulative risk maps under different toxicity assumptions.
- Highlighted the utility of accurate geographical and ecological data for effective risk mapping.
Conclusions:
- Trait-based vulnerability analysis can be effectively used to create relevant ecological risk maps.
- The developed methodology allows for the identification of single and cumulative risks from soil pollutants.
- Accurate data integration enables precise hot spot identification for ecological risk management.
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